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Conservative MP Patrick Brown won't bill taxpayers for New York City Marathon trip

Conservative MP Patrick Brown, shown running the Toronto marathon in 2012, says he will not bill taxpayers for his trip to New York City last November for the marathon there.Photo: Handout

Stephen Maher

Published: January 8, 2014 - 5:01 PM

Updated: January 8, 2014 - 6:37 PM

A Conservative backbencher has agreed not to bill taxpayers for his trip to New York City to run a marathon after all.

Patrick Brown, the MP for the southern Ontario riding of Barrie, posted an expense claim on his website for $1,416.06 for a trip to New York in November. While he was there, he ran the New York City Marathon as a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and also popped by the United Nations to “meet with United Nations’ officials.”

Postmedia News reported on the suspect spending on Monday. A spokesman for Brown said then that Brown set up the trip for the purpose of visiting the UN, and that the trip “fortunately coincided with NYC Marathon.”

Brown had first announced that he intended to run in the New York City Marathon in 2012.

On Wednesday afternoon, Brown decided that he won’t take the money for the trip after all.

“Out of an abundance of caution and utmost respect for Canadian taxpayers, I will no longer be seeking reimbursement for this trip from the House of Commons,” he said in a statement.

“I proactively posted the expense claim on my website prior to receiving a reimbursement. I have not received any reimbursement nor will I.”

Brown’s expense report appeared on his website. Conservative and Liberal MPs began this fall to post expense reports for individual trips, a level of detail not available from the expense reports provided by the House of Commons administration.

The NDP has not matched the initiative from the other two parties, saying that they are concerned about individual MPs being responsible for posting their own expenses.